Friends,

Below are some links to updates from the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada and Stop Canadian Involvement in Torture.

A. While it is difficult to summarize the hundreds of pages of justifications for secrecy (not to mention the ridiculous conclusions that have been drawn against Mohamed Harkat of Ottawa), below is a link to a piece that hopefully gives people a sense of the context and reasoning that has been used to uphold the draconian “security certificate” process and open the door to Harkat’s judicially sanctioned rendition to torture.
You can also view the emotional post-decision press conference at http://prism-magazine.com/2010/12/archived-harkat-press-conference-is-posted/
B. While for years those of us opposed to secret trials have been laughed at for saying that these hearings represent the tip of the iceberg, below also is a link to an article on the case of Hassan Diab, an Ottawa professor fighting extradition to France on the basis of a wide range of manifestly unreliable allegations as well as secret “information” he is not allowed to see either. Please consider signing a statement calling for a fair and transparent process and an end to the extradition case against Dr. Diab as well (details at bottom of the article):
C. Finally, how many people who celebrate Christmas would be comfortable having an anti-terrorism RCMP booth at their Xmas Eve services? It sounds sick, but if you are a Muslim, this is par for the course, Last September, during the Eid celebrations at Carleton University, the RCMP’s “national security outreach team” was present during this holiest of days. Given the RCMP’s role in the torture of numerous Canadian citizens, including Ottawa residents Maher Arar and Abdullah Almalki, I was disturbed that they could so easily have a place at such a sacred event. I have written to organizers of Eid celebrations for the past three months but have received no response, and thus am making public this open letter in the hope that others will take up this call and demand that agencies complicit in torture and terrorizing targetted communities not be allowed to attend such community events.
You can read that letter here:
As we move forward to 2011, there will be countless “10 years after” pieces discussing the so-called war-on terror, with pundits who make a living as part of Canada’s terrorism industry positing that “difficult choices” had to be made that resulted from the “best of intentions” but nonetheless resulted in (and continue to produce) gross human rights violations. It is vital that we stay awake to and resist the ongoing violations in our midst and continue the efforts to achieve justice for all those who have been and continue to be targetted because of the country from which their families came, the religion they practice, or the politics they practice, among other forms of profiling.
If you would like yo support our work, contributions are always happily accepted! Cheques can be made out to Homes not Bombs and mailed to PO Box 2121, 57 Foster Street, Perth, ON K7H 1R0 (If you would like a tax receipt, please write us at tasc@web.ca for details on how that can be arranged!)
Matthew Behrens
Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada